Website and app blocker
Software that makes distracting sites genuinely unavailable on a schedule
Tools that block chosen sites and apps across all your devices on a schedule, ideally with a locked mode you cannot casually override. The point is to move the decision from the moment of temptation to a calmer moment in advance. Any blocker you can turn off in two clicks is decoration rather than a tool.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Andrew HubermanDoes it
Neuroscientist · Huberman Lab
Names Freedom as the program he runs during work bouts, describing it as shutting him out of the internet completely. He sets a 90 minute timer alongside it and tries to get one strong stretch of work done.
Source: Huberman Lab: Maximizing Productivity, Physical & Mental Health with Daily Tools - Chris WilliamsonDoes it
Host · Modern Wisdom
Cold Turkey runs on his laptop through the morning block he keeps for guest prep, blunt enough that he cannot get round it, with a message set to remind him what he is meant to be doing. He is open about the tension in needing software to do a job self-control ought to.
Source: Ben Greenfield Life podcast transcript - Ali AbdaalRecommends
Doctor turned YouTuber · author of Feel-Good Productivity
Opal blocks distracting apps outright, and he calls it an effective way to remove his online distractions.
Source: aliabdaal.com: 15 tools to manage and achieve your goals - Cal NewportRecommends
Computer science professor · author of Deep Work
Has long advised hard blocking software as a way to start deep work training, and he is dismissive of gentler app-based wellness nudges.
Source: calnewport.com: digital wellness for grown ups
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under focus or productivity.
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 5 of 62 tracked people: 5 do it
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Readwise
Syncs your highlights and resurfaces them a few at a time
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 recommends it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
- App$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
DEVONthink
DEVONtechnologies
Document and information manager for Mac and iOS with local, indexed databases
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
App entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.